The 1918 Spring Offensive, also known as the Kaiserschlacht, ‘The Kaiser’s Battle’, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War. They intended to force the Allies to the negotiating table before American forces arrived in large numbers. There were four major German offensives, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Blücher-Yorck, and Gneisenau.

Operation Michael

The first offensive was codenamed Operation Michael, the first day of which remains the second worst day of losses in British military history.

Operation Georgette

Operation Blücher-Yorck

In May 1918, German forces launched an offensive against a previously quiet sector of the Western Front, near the River Aisne in France. Five divisions of the British Army, sent there to rest, suffered particularly heavy casualties.